Jeju Island, South Korea, May 18, 2013 (AFP) -A stiff wind and late afternoon rain interrupted two days of perfect weather, wreaking havoc on the field with only 10 players breaking par at the 6,732 metre (7,361 yard) course on South Korea's Jeju Island.
Griffin, who won the Charity High1 Resort Open in September, stood 13 under overall and a stroke clear of Korean veteran Kang Wook-Soon despite the Asian's fine 67, the day's best round at the one billion won ($900,000) tournament.
China's Hu Mu (73) and Koreans Lee Ki-Sang (72) and Park Do-Kyu (74) shared third place at nine under.
Overnight leader and unheralded journeyman Kim Chang-Yoon, who broke the course record with a 62 on Friday, slipped to minus seven after shooting a 79.
Griffin chipped in for an eagle at the par-five ninth to cancel out a bogey-bogey start.
He then hit nine-pars in a row, citing his experience from last year in similar conditions.
"Definitely I feel like a different player now," he said, according to a press release. "It helps that you know you can do it, you know you can win.
"If the wind stays the same as it was today, then I think two or three under from the leaders will probably win it."
Scores after round three of the SK Telecom:
203 - Matthew Griffin (AUS) 64-67-72
204 - Kang Wook-Soon (KOR) 65-72-67
207 - Lee Ki-Sang (KOR) 67-68-72, Park Do-Kyu (KOR) 67-66-74, Hu Mu (CHN) 66-68-73
208 - David Oh (USA) 66-72-70, An Jae-Hyun (NZL) 71-69-68, Kim Hyung-Tae (KOR) 67-69-72, Moon Kyong-Jun (KOR) 67-69-72
209 - Michael Long (NZL) 66-72-71, Lee Soo-min (KOR) 67-70-72, Kim Do-Hoon (KOR) 66-70-73, K.J. Choi (KOR) 69-67-73, Kim Chang-Yoon (KOR) 68-62-79, Jason Norris (AUS) 66-66-77